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’The
CSJ, an independent think-tank founded by Work and Pensions Secretary
Iain Duncan Smith, warned that the Government was ‘sleepwalking into a
family breakdown crisis’.

It
claimed broken families were costing the taxpayer nearly £50billion a
year, through welfare payments for single mothers and the additional
strain on the criminal justice system, because the children of lone
parents are more likely to end up in court and jail.

The report said fathers who did not live with their children should be given financial incentives to return to the family home.

They
should also have the legal right to be named on their child’s birth
certificate, it added. Currently, an unmarried father cannot register
his name unless the mother of his child agrees.

Dr
Callan called for the Prime Minister to ‘back marriage with money’ and
double the transferable tax allowance for married couples to £2,000.

The think tank Beyonce's pro-marriage message from her hit Single Ladies: 'If you liked it, the you should have put a ring on it'

As Beyoncé Knowles says in her song, "If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it"

Dr Samantha Callan

Criticising
Mr Cameron, she said: ‘Despite his genuine resolve, when it comes to
the most pressing family policy priority of improving stability there is
very little to show from that rightly ambitious rhetoric.’

The study found that while 62 per cent of 15-year-olds own a smartphone, only 57 per cent live with their fathers.

Tory
MP Andrew Selous said: ‘It’s a very alarming and shocking statistic and
a call to action to put strengthening family stability much higher up
the political agenda.’

The report warned that the number of single-parent families had risen by 20,000 a year between 2010 and 2013.

It
said 48 per cent of children aged five and under in the poorest 20 per
cent of families were now from broken homes. The CSJ also found more
than 1million children had lost contact with their grandparents as a
result of separation or divorce.

The CSJ was set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who has argued marriage helps to prevent family breakdown

Christian
Guy, the CSJ’s director, told The Sunday Times: ‘For too long family
breakdown has gone unchallenged despite the devastating impact it has on
adults, children and communities.’ Fiona Weir, chief executive of
Gingerbread, the charity that supports single parents, said: ‘Most
single parents are doing a good job.

‘Government spending should be focused on policies that make a real difference for families of all shapes and sizes.’

The CSJ predicted that by next year there will be 2million single-parent families.

It found that in the poorest neighbourhoods in the UK, three-quarters of families have a lone parent.

The
Government will introduce a marriage tax allowance from next year, in
an attempt to recognise the importance of the institution. It means that
where one person in a marriage does not use their full income tax
allowance, currently set at £10,000, they could transfer up to £1,000 to
their partner, helping to reduce their tax bill by as much as £200 a
year.

However,
the CSJ says the Government should go further, and double the £1,000
transferable allowance to £2,000, resulting in a £400 tax benefit.